June 13, 2026
My Crayon Conversations
I am an artist, I draw and sketch. I don’t paint when I am sad, or when I am bored, I just do it because it makes me more happy. That is one thing I just do, like I breathe or go to school, it’s my regular life. But there is one thing that is ... <a title="My Crayon Conversations" class="read-more" href="https://stonesoup.com/memoirs/my-crayon-conversations/" aria-label="Read more about My Crayon Conversations">Read more</a>
June 10, 2026
From that page
A diary reopened, rewritten, for that reason, A page I could not flip from, a chapter from that page. The soft folds of paper were damp, and smudged was the writing, An obstinate child within me, clinging to torn edges from that page. A collection of faded photographs, as if rewinding through my mind, Limited ... <a title="From that page" class="read-more" href="https://stonesoup.com/poems/from-that-page/" aria-label="Read more about From that page">Read more</a>
June 2, 2026
Far from Cured
I told myself I’d left it all behind, My cup of life filled up with laughter, lace, But I, far from cured, and far from refined. I swore no hand had poisoned my mind, This window, triple-bolted, swung with grace, I told myself I’d left it all behind. Resolve dissolved with just a glance, a ... <a title="Far from Cured" class="read-more" href="https://stonesoup.com/poems/far-from-cured/" aria-label="Read more about Far from Cured">Read more</a>
Stuck
Not even willing to recall yesterday, every mind strains to remember a bland moment, when forced to cope with times now stuck, the morrow would not let it slip away, and all modest times dismissed and meant to forget, for ask me at bed time what has happened in the morning. haunting me is one ... <a title="Stuck" class="read-more" href="https://stonesoup.com/poems/stuck/" aria-label="Read more about Stuck">Read more</a>
Growing Colder
I stepped off the bus, savoring the taste of my toothpaste. I’ve been getting better at brushing my teeth and hair recently, since starting my meds. Obviously, it was expensive, but I wanted to be the person I was before Gigi got sick. That Sadie smiled, put thought into her outfits, didn’t feel so heavy, ... <a title="Growing Colder" class="read-more" href="https://stonesoup.com/stories/growing-colder/" aria-label="Read more about Growing Colder">Read more</a>
A City I Never Saw
For most of my childhood, my grandmother's bright red Camry smelled faintly of J. perfume, old leather and sometimes McDonald's fries that we had eaten hours earlier but somehow could still smell. The air conditioning was always slightly too cold. The radio was never loud, just enough for us to hear old Coke Studio songs ... <a title="A City I Never Saw" class="read-more" href="https://stonesoup.com/memoirs/a-city-i-never-saw/" aria-label="Read more about A City I Never Saw">Read more</a>
Blinking
I hauled a moon-knife from my leather waist belt and chopped up the last strands of weeds from the dry, crispy earth. It’s really supposed to be called a sickle, but I just call it a moon-knife. Our tribe had cut down some trees and made an empty lot for our tents and campfires, but ... <a title="Blinking" class="read-more" href="https://stonesoup.com/stories/blinking/" aria-label="Read more about Blinking">Read more</a>
Brimming with Nothingness
There once was a vase with a flower, rosy and plump, like peaches, sweet and soft, slim like a sprout of elegant green, with a graceful figure. She lived in a vase made of glistening, crystal-clear glass, an embracing enclosure of dewdrops, devoted to its lady. Flower and vase, crystal and stem entwined— has time ... <a title="Brimming with Nothingness" class="read-more" href="https://stonesoup.com/poems/brimming-with-nothingness/" aria-label="Read more about Brimming with Nothingness">Read more</a>
June 1, 2026
Paw, Hand, and Floor
I had no official business near the couch, which is why my head was held high, like an austere national security inspector. I was not a busybody. I bowed to no one. I only placed myself near the hand. And yet, the nearer each paw trotted, the lower my head sank, as the plea and ... <a title="Paw, Hand, and Floor" class="read-more" href="https://stonesoup.com/poems/paw-hand-and-floor/" aria-label="Read more about Paw, Hand, and Floor">Read more</a>
May 31, 2026
Flash Contest: Short deadline contest for powerful works of art.
The May 2026 Prompt As the weather changes, for this month’s Flash Contest, we ask you to juxtapose any two seasons. You can look at a small moment or detail in each season, capture your own or a character’s change from season to season, or compare seasons in different time periods (for example, what would ... <a title="Flash Contest: Short deadline contest for powerful works of art." class="read-more" href="https://stonesoup.com/flash-contests-short-deadline-for-writing-art-and-music/" aria-label="Read more about Flash Contest: Short deadline contest for powerful works of art.">Read more</a>
May 30, 2026
Awaiting the Rush
Awaiting the rush means I must marinate in restlessness. I’m reminded that once a consciousness slides, it receives a static shock from the Playground Gods in order to bring it further from dreaming. I am an inattentive, distracted mother of birds, and I am starved of sweet sleep. Today I will decide if I would ... <a title="Awaiting the Rush" class="read-more" href="https://stonesoup.com/poems/awaiting-the-rush/" aria-label="Read more about Awaiting the Rush">Read more</a>
May 29, 2026
Seventh Annual Stone Soup Novel and Long Form Fiction Contest
The purpose of this contest is to encourage you to challenge yourself with long form fiction. As writers you will already know that the longer you make your story the more difficult it is to finish. Just completing a longer work of fiction is an accomplishment in and of itself. This contest encourages you to ... <a title="Seventh Annual Stone Soup Novel and Long Form Fiction Contest" class="read-more" href="https://stonesoup.com/stone-soup-novel-contest/" aria-label="Read more about Seventh Annual Stone Soup Novel and Long Form Fiction Contest">Read more</a>